Washington (CNN) -- Politics is serious business -- but not all the time.

Sometimes you (don't) feel like a nut

The Denver Post reports that Colorado GOP Chairman Dick Wadhams unexpectedly dropped his re-election bid, noting that the GOP's chances in 2012 could be "severely undermined" by a conservative-only based approach.

He said he had the votes to win a third term -- and "loved" being chairman -- but he's "tired of the nuts who have no grasp of what the state party's role is."

Checking out early?

The Washington Post reports that Democratic Rep. Jane Harman, who recently announced she's retiring and headed to a think tank, "may have already partially checked out of Congress."

Harman, who represents California, said in a statement Tuesday night that a bill extending the Patriot Act provisions passed the House 277-148.

Except it didn't. The measure fell short of the 284 votes needed to pass.

Does he use Just for Men?

It's the question being asked around the world: Has President Obama dyed his hair?

London's Daily Mail compared a recent photo of the president with one taken only a few weeks earlier. In the recent photo, his hair looks black; the older photograph shows a more salt and pepper look.

The first lady, though, is shooting down the theory, telling NBC on Wednesday that "no, he's pretty gray," adding that "if he knew he'd be president, he would have started dyeing his hair 10 years ago."

A real inspiration

CNN's Cody Combs reports that as the first female White House press secretary, Dee Dee Myers will go into the history books, but she'll also be remembered for inspiring the creation of a female character on the popular TV series "The West Wing."

That character's name was C.J. Cregg, a press secretary in the fictional Bartlett administration during the series' run from 1999 to 2006.

"Oh no, Amazon took down the page for Bristol Palin's memoir! Perhaps it was a dangerous book, a work of such importance that the authorities felt threatened enough to ban it!" -- Wonkette's Jack Stuef